Thread: Beginner troubles

Originally Posted by fuddstar

As a beginner I'm still struggling with lather. Can anyone recommend some good tips or resources to learn from?

Lather development takes practice. Soap or creams are cheap so try things out before you set up to shave. The water retention of the brush varies by type of brush. I would bowl or palm lather in the beginning. Creams are easier because it is easier to load product on the brush. I use synthetic brushes. For hard soap, I wet the brush, shake it out and then start rubbing it on the soap. As the brush loads it gets sticky and hard to rub on the soap, so I wet the tips of the bristles and resume loading the brush. How long you need to do this depends on the soap and experience. Some soaps require you put warm water on them and let them soak before you start. As a rough estimate, 40 seconds to a minute is usually enough to get the brush loaded. Then I bowl lather.

Rinse the bowl with warm (not hot) water and start using the brush to build lather. As you lather, you will feel the friction increase as more product is added to the bowl from the brush, again I wet the tips of the brush and resume building lather. There are lots of descriptions of what "perfect" lather is like, but it is easier to describe what it is not. It should not be fluffy and full of air bubbles. Whipping the brush too fast and using too much water will cause this. Add more soap. If it is very thick and hard to move the brush in it, then add more water. A whipped yogurt consistency is often used to describe it. If you rub a bit between two fingers it should feel slick.

Practice, practice, practice.

Originally Posted by Datsots

For me a modern badger brush makes a huge difference.

lather secrets but mainly; Share Your Lathering Methods/Secrets + Poll, Unlocking the secret... modern Williams Mug soap exposed to ...

Jonathan

These links were really handy particularly soaking my puck overnight and using that same water for lathering. Didn't realise my Crabtree & Evelyn Sandlewood was so sensitive. But it'd nice and luxurious now